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Ciriaco fitting in quickly while filling in for Cabrera

Ciriaco fitting in quickly while filling in for Cabrera

6/20/13: Pedro Ciriaco lifts his second home run of the season to increase the Padres' lead to 6-2

By Corey Brock and Jamal Collier
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MLB.com |

SAN DIEGO -- It didn't take Pedro Ciriaco long to feel at home with his new club.

On Thursday, he went 2-for-4 with a triple and a two-run homer, helping the Padres to a seventh consecutive home victory as they defeated the Dodgers, 6-3.

"Crazy. I've been here for a week and I feel like it's been a year," Ciriaco said after the game. "They make it easy for me and everyone on the team, manager and coaches have been incredible."

It's been exactly one week since the Padres acquired Ciriaco from the Red Sox, a move that didn't make many headlines and one that Ciriaco admitted surprised him a bit.

But the acquisition has paid off greatly for both sides.

Two days after the acquisition, the Padres lost their starting shortstop, Everth Cabrera, to the disabled list with a hamstring injury. The club inserted Ciriaco, who made his fourth start at shortstop for the Padres on Friday.

Ciriaco wasn't acquired for his offense -- he was hitting .216 in 28 games with the Red Sox -- so his hot bat has been an added bonus. Ciriaco is hitting .412 with two runs, a triple, a home run and three RBIs in 17 at-bats.

Padres manager Bud Black said Ciriaco's biggest impact will be on defense, some of which was also on display Thursday when he and second baseman Logan Forsythe turned a key ninth-inning double play to help seal the victory.

Forsythe and Ciriaco have been taking pregame grounders together and working to develop a connection as they fill in for injured second baseman Jedd Gyorko and Cabrera.

"Pretty good especially for being a couple games in with each other," Forsythe said. "We've made some good turns.

"You want to make a new guy, especially if he's going to play, feel as comfortable as possible. We got a lot of great guys in this clubhouse. … Our older guys make sure that's a priority."

Corey Brock is a reporter for MLB.com. Keep track of @FollowThePadres on Twitter. Jamal Collier is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.